University of Toronto Library Acquires Archive of Canadian Journalist Peter Mansbridge

From the U. of Toronto Library:

He’s rubbed shoulders with Barack Obama, hosted eight Olympic opening ceremonies, and was the deep, commanding voice in Canadian living rooms, reporting on the most important news stories of the last half-century. Now, Peter Mansbridge’s illustrious career will be immortalized at the University of Toronto.

U of T Libraries’ Media Commons has acquired Mansbridge’s archive of items related to his long career at the CBC. The treasure trove paints a picture not only of the famed anchor but of the news industry throughout the decades and the current events that shaped the world in that time.

When Mansbridge announced his retirement from hosting CBC’s flagship news show The National in 2017, Brock Silversides, head of U of T’s Media Commons, said he thought it was the perfect opportunity to ask him to donate his material to the library.

“When I heard he was deciding on retiring, I thought let’s give it a try,” said Silversides.

When Mansbridge initially received Silversides’s request, it was the first time he considered archiving his material on this scale.

“I couldn’t think of anybody who would actually want anything from my almost 50 years at the CBC,” he joked. “But I was wrong.”

The archive’s value comes from Mansbridge’s meticulous collecting and filing of everything from press passes to letters and speech notes.

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